The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco
has refused to reconsider its ruling that the Pledge of Allegiance, incorporating
"under God," is unconstitutional. Voices are being raised in anger and
opposition to this ruling. But let's step back and look at this situation
in accordance to our constitution.

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution
states, in part, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment
of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof ..."

While some claim this erects a wall of separation
between church and state, nothing could be further from the truth.

Thomas Jefferson, 1823:

"On every question of construction, carry ourselves
back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit
manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed
out of the text, or invented against it conform to the probable one in
which it was passed."

One of the primary causes of the Revolution was
the religious persecution of those faiths not given official recognition
by the Church of England, the established church of King George. Part
of our American heritage not taught in government schools today is that
those churches not recognized by the Church of England were not allowed
to marry people. If the only church in a newly settled frontier community
was a church not recognized by the Church of England, the people who settled
in that community or area had to travel to a church that was recognized
to be married or they had to await the arrival of a traveling minister,
called a "circuit rider." Some of the people who settled the central part
of Virginia, for instance, traveled clear to Wilmington, Delaware, and
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to be married.

When writing the Bill of Rights, our Founding Fathers
sought to right what they found to be an intolerable wrong; via the First
Amendment they sought to prohibit the state from establishing a state
recognized religion or interfering in the free exercise of religion. This
does not mean that people of religious faith serving in public offices
cannot practice their religious principles in their day to day dealings
with others. It was the intent of our Founding Fathers that men of principle
serve our nation and that they do so according to their religious principles.

With this in mind, it is ironic that so many people
are so upset about the Ninth Circuit Court ruling that the Pledge of Allegiance
is unconstitutional in the government school setting. Yet, at the same
time, the same people condemn humanism as the religious foundation of
government schools, citing the 1963 Supreme Court decision banning prayer
in government schools as the causal factor in the destruction of good
public education.

So, it is okay to have religion in the government
schools so long as that religion is Christianity? This is directly counter
to the First Amendment which guarantees freedom of religion. Freedom of
religion means freedom of religion, not just freedom of religion if you
are a Christian. Christianity has no more place in the government school
than does humanism or New Age, all other considerations aside.

But doesn't that amount to promoting humanism? No,
it doesn't. John Adams stated that our constitution was made for a moral
and religious people, that it was wholly inadequate for any other. But
John Adams and his colleagues understood something that too many Christians
today don't understand or have forgotten: if man is to truly be free,
man must choose to follow the teaching of Christ, that any attempt to
force mankind to be Christian via an act of government constitutes an
act of tyranny.

This is the same concept that underlies the truism
that government cannot legislate morality. To do so constitutes an act
of tyranny even if the intentions are noble. The long and short of this
is that a moral and religious people, alone, can be free. People must
choose, of their own volition, to follow the teachings of Christ and to
practice those teachings in their everyday lives even in the public arena.

So, should the Pledge of Allegiance be banned from
the government schools? No. Okay, aren't we like going in circles, here?
Again, no. If a child wishes to stand up, of his own volition, at a time
that is so designated or not disruptive, place his hand over his heart,
face the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance, complete with "one
nation under God" he has every right to do so, even in a government school
classroom. However, if a teacher or other government school employee makes
the recitation of the Pledge of Allegiance mandatory, then the teacher
has violated the Constitution.

The same is true concerning school prayer. For a
school employee to demand students bow their heads in prayer is forbidden.
For a parent or a student to entreat those who wish to join with them
in prayer on school grounds, such is within their rights and the rights
of every individual who chooses to join them.

The test is whether the religious act on public
property is voluntary or mandatory.

But what about the fact that the religions of humanism
and New Age are being taught in the government school classroom? Isn't
that just as unconstitutional as reciting the Pledge of Allegiance?

The root problem with the religions of humanism
and New Age in the government school classroom is one that goes to the
very foundation of education. Education, in every instance, is based upon
a world view, a religion, making it impossible to educate a child without
imparting a religious world view. For this reason, government schools
violate the First Amendment. They should never have been established in
the first place, and should be disbanded now. In that, the question of
the constitutionality of the Pledge of Allegiance in the classroom would
never have arisen.

Mother
and wife, Stuter has spent the past ten years researching systemstheory with a particular emphasis on
education. She home schooled twodaughters,
now grown and on their own. She has worked with legislators,both state and federal, on issues pertaining
to systems governance andeducation
reform. She networks nationwide with other researchers
andcitizens concerned with
the transformation of our nation. She has traveledthe United States and lived overseas.
Web site: www.learn-usa.com
E-Mail: lmstuter@learn-usa.com